Cannabis history

1619 - IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FIRST CANNABIS LAW IN THE NEW WORLD

Jamestown
(or James Towne or Jamestowne) was a settlement in the Colony of
Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James
Fort" on May 14, 1607 it was the first permanent English
settlement in what is now the United States.

In
1619, Jamestown colony law declared that all settlers were required
to grow Indian hemp. Its the New World's first marijuana
legislation.

Mandatory
hemp cultivation laws were passed in Massachusetts in 1631 and in
Connecticut in 1632. The use of hemp for rope and fabric was
ubiquitous throughout the 18th and 19th centuries in the United
States. George Washington grew hemp at Mount Vernon as one of his
three primary crops.

Source:

Deitch,
Robert (2003). Hemp - American History Revisited. New York City:
Algora Publishing.